Senescence
by HartxStarr
Summary: A collection of horribly lengthed drabbles that, when pieced together, depict certain aspects of Law's equally horrible life. - Post-Apocalypse type AU (or, the years following)
1. Brotherhood

When he was three years old, his mother told him "Law, you're going to have a little sibling."

And when he tilted his head and asked what that meant in all its entirety, she had simply laughed and told him "It means you're going to become a big brother; it's the most important role you'll ever have. They'll look up to you, and it would be your job to teach them and protect them. Do you understand?"

He didn't. But as she held his hand against the curve of her belly and felt the faintest of kicks in response, he smiled up at her and told her he accepted the position.


	2. Frogs Are Cooler Than People

When he was six he started school.

 _A terrible conception,_ Law thought as he watched the other children stumble through inane trivial lessons and concepts he learned long ago. If he was going to become a doctor, why should he sit around a futile classroom all day when he could be in an operating room observing something useful? He was convinced his parents could teach him anything and everything it is that he would need to know - they've already begun to do so but, as it was, as much as they had already taught him, they were still, in fact, busy doctors and promptly dropped him off at a separate teaching ground to keep him entertained while they engaged themselves elsewhere.

They told him he needed to surround himself with people his own age.

"But I do," he said, because it was true. "Lami's my age," a beat. "Kind of." A longer, more tense stretch of silence. "In a way."

There were plenty of frogs hopping around the designated play area though, so that kept him occupied until he actually made some real friends.


	3. Flevance

He was ten when he lost the most important job he'd ever have. It went up in an inferno along with the rest of his country; gunshots ringing and blood spilled stark against the milky pavement, the bodies lining the streets. His last coherent thought came as he took in the damage and the loss, between one wail-filled breath and the next:

 _It's strange. The flames tinge white as well._


	4. Puberty

He knew about the functionalities of puberty long before he was thirteen but Rosinante deemed it rather necessary - a personal goal of his, perhaps - to attempt to inform him of the changes his body would be partaking the moment Law managed an undignified squeak to his words - a fact that would be the least bit embarrassing if not for the fact that Roci made such a bigger deal out of it than absolutely necessary.

After having been cooed at, Law decided that he would give up speaking altogether until his larynx sorted itself out - however long it may take. But, it turns out, his traveling companion didn't stop in his would-be intellectual crusade. Rosinante took it upon himself to measure out Law's height in the most round about way possible: standing next to him and judging if he grew magically overnight based on where the top of his head ended up in position to his leg. He even started drawing crude lines on the length of his pants, much like you would a doorframe, to Law's utter dismay.

"Look! Law, _you grew!"_

"You're just wearing your pants differently today. This isn't a reliable system, Roci, stop this."

A gentle gasp. _"Your voice!"_


	5. A Change Of Pace

Dressrosa was both a luxurious and beautiful, simple country in regards to architecture and way of life. It was a shame that it was ruled by a rather extravagantly gaudy king - and with a name like Doflamingo, you could just _guess_ what the guy looked like.

If Law didn't like him the second he caught wind of him, he liked him even less when the shitface decided to land him a position as secondary assistant to a nurse's assistant of a nursing home. He spent his days serving patients orange juice and giving them aloe vera neck rubs.

He didn't even know that was a thing.

Did he ask for this? No. Did he get a choice in the manner? Of course not.

All he had that he could possibly thank the king for was that he actually provided him adequate housing - but, really, that was all Rosinante's doing. In all his sixteen years of life, he never thought that he'd be overlooking the entirety of a kingdom from the top of an elevated plateau.


	6. Kikoku

He supposed a twenty one year old surgeon was rather unheard of.

He also supposed that the nodachi he held was less of a birthday present - a late one at that, not that he actually cared or anything - and more of a celebratory gift. But given the fact that it was presented to him as so a whole year _after_ his assumed accomplishment, he focused more so on the _sword_ part of the gift than the horrible tardiness of it.

Because who in their right mind thought that giving Law a _sword_ was in any way an appropriate gift of any kind. But, considering that the gifter in question stood so far away from the "right mind" category than anyone he ever knew, Law decided to (rather rudely) turn down the obvious throwaway gift that was bestowed upon him.

However, after it became apparent that accepting the gift was the only available option for him outside of potential homelessness, he grudgingly took it and set it up with the included stand, and proceeded to pretended that it didn't bother him in the least that the damn thing was too awkwardly long to rest appeasingly on top of his dresser.

It was the only space he had available and it wouldn't fit in his wardrobe - a fact that probably led to Rosinante pointing it out the literal second he (uninvitedly) wandered into Law's room one day.

Law sighed, turned from his desk, and simply stated that it was a gift. Upon learning that it was from his own brother, Roci beamed and congratulated him before crossing the room to pick it up.

Needless to say, Law scrambled to take it first but, as it was, Rosinante's ridiculously long legs allowed him to grab it by the hilt-

And promptly drop it with a yelp.

 _"What was that?"_

Law secured the sword in his hands, making sure the blade didn't escape its scabbard, before managing a rather dignified _"uh."_

" _Law-"_

"I can explain."

" _-did you feel that too?"_

"Right now? Yes." He gave the sword a little shake in hopes that it would mean something.

It didn't.

 _"Law,"_ Roci was staring intensely at his own hand, _"what was that?"_

It was more so guilt that made him check the hand in question than genuine concern before Law took a moment to figure out how he could properly explain the situation he was rather forcefully put in.

He put the nodachi back on its stand and bought some time by unnecessarily straighting it back out. "Its name," he started, "is Kikoku." Took another moment to lament his tragic interior decorating skills before, "It's a cursed sword."

"Why would Doffy give you a cursed sword?"

 _Because he knows no one wants it,_ is what he would have said if he was talking to literally anyone else. _And he probably hopes I'll impale myself with it. Preferably accidentally, but, knowing Doflamingo, he'd be nothing short of happy if he did the honors himself. And if asked what happened, he wouldn't have to hide the fact from anyone but you._

" _Oh, I tripped," he would say, and "It wasn't my fault, Law was in the way, the little brat- oh, did I say brat? I meant the gifted young individual that I have loved and cherished the moment you brought him into my life via written letter."_

He almost settled on a more to-the-point _because he hates me_ instead but deemed it far too childish.

It didn't make it any less true though - not that Law actually cared or anything.

But because he doesn't have to explain to Roci that you can't just outright refuse a gift from the head of a family to his very face (even if he had tried), Law says instead, "It's supposed to be a type of reward for my accomplishments," he briefly tried to rationalize their host's rather unhinged mind. "A decoration, perhaps." Because what else could it be? He didn't know, he's not the one with a few screws loose. "A novelty, at best."

"Is it," Rosinante made to touch it again. Thought better of it, kept his hands far away. "Dangerous?"

 _Not if it's just sitting there._ "No," Law resisted the urge to give him another once-over, "it can't hurt you."

And then he stopped because he couldn't believe he has to actually relay what he was told about the damn thing. Because this whole ordeal is actually real; they both felt it - the three of them, now. "Doflamingo told me," _however reliable his information is_ (and Law also resisted the urge to travel through that specific line of thought) "that the previous owner gave it away because they weren't strong enough to suppress its desires," a ridiculous statement, honestly but. Well. "And they feared that its feelings would manifest itself into them."

"That doesn't answer my question." A beat. "Now I have more questions."

Law cleared his throat. Tried to unpetty himself for literally two seconds. "Kikoku is as dangerous as any other blade but-" he stumbled over his words. Wondered not for the first time what it was about Rosinante that made him do so. "It's a cursed sword."

He let a few seconds tick away to let it eat at him that he explained absolutely nothing at all.

"What I mean is-"

"What kind of curse is it?"

Law didn't want to admit that he didn't really actually know. He didn't know anything about swords in general. The concept of falling into the blade sounded pretty promising right now though.

But then he remembered that was _exactly_ what Doflamingo wanted so he ran his hand over the scabbard instead and felt the expected icy chill punch through him - _as cold as his host's soul,_ is what he would have thought if he was dramatic but he's not, so he didn't.

 _It's some kind of-_ "Demonic one, maybe." That was probably it. High five, Law, you did good.

"A demon cursed your sword? Is there a demon _in_ your sword? Is your _sword_ a demon?" Rosinante seemed to be on a roll. " _Is there a demon in this house?"_

 _Yes,_ Law thought, _But it would be more accurate to say that a demon_ owns _this house._

Although, he supposed a _palace_ can't really be considered a _house_ persay. But it did house the family...

Law hadn't known the concept of a home for six years now.

"No," he said instead because he learned a long time ago that Roci is rather oblivious to Doflamingo's rather deranged nature, and the humor of his quiet joke would be lost on him. "Well," he directed has gaze back to the nodachi in question. "As I said, it can't hurt you if you don't touch it - so please refrain from doing so, Roci."

"The curse is subjective," he continued. "It can only affect you if you touch it. The- _demon_ , let's say, influences you to the point that you feel compelled to act upon its desires. What you felt was Kikoku calling out to you."

"So the previous owner gave it away..."

"Because they gave in to it at some point," Law continued what Rosinante didn't say. "This sword has killed people, Roci, because it simply _wants_ to."

"What an awful gift."

Law laughed because it was true.


	7. Me, Myself, And I

When he was twenty four, he was alone again.


	8. Campfire Tales

"Hey, Cap," Penguin piped up from across the campfire, perched on his seat of stone. "You said you used to be some type of fancy doctor back at Dressrosa-"

"Dude," Shachi elbowed him from his side, "He was a _surgeon,_ get it right."

"Literally the same thing - anyway, Law, do you ever miss that? Like, the whole," he made some grand ambiguous gesture with his hands. "Doctoring- thing you did? You ever wish you could do that stuff again?"

Shachi elbowed him again. "Do you even know what a surgeon _is?"_

Penguin elbowed him back harder. "Shut up, I'm trying to ask a question."

"Do you even know what a _doctor_ is?"

"I've never seen a doctor before in my life, you know this."

 _"Law's a doctor."_

"Oh, I'm sorry, _I thought he was a surgeon."_

"Penguin, what the fuck."

Caught between the sudden question and the squabble that broke out because of it, Law sat and continued sipping his soup in silence. The two eventually settled down long enough to ensure an answer, but he wasn't quite sure if replying after such a stretch of time was seen as acceptable or not. As the proceeding silence lapsed, three pairs of eyes bore into him and the longer it lasted, the less willing Law was to answer the rather unanticipated inquiry.

After about the twentieth tick of the metaphorical clock, Bepo shifted on the fallen log he shared and muttered, "Law's the first doctor I've ever seen, too."

There was an additional beat of silence as they processed what it was that he's just said. Law slowly looked up from his bowl while Shachi snorted into his. Penguin, however, took another moment before bursting into laughter, spilling his soup on himself, yelped, and found _that_ even funnier, tumbling backwards off of his rock in a feat of his own mirth, accidentally dragging Shachi down with him when trying to find purchase and clung to him, burying his face in his poor friend's coat collar.

" _Why is that even funny,"_ Penguin sounded like he was either laughing or crying. Maybe both. _"It's not even funny,"_ but the rousing laughter persisted.

Law stared at the rock that they were on - now only _partially_ on; their legs remained only because their pants caught on various corners and angles of the stone. He let out a slow, exhausted sigh before bringing the bowl to his mouth once more, hiding the upwards curl of his lips.

Bepo beside him looked rather pleased with himself.

When Penguin calmed down, the two fallen victims righted themselves and dished out another helping of soup (what must have been their fourth round each). Law found the ground suddenly very interesting.

"I can't," he quietly admitted. Hoped they knew him well enough to realize what he was talking about after the (what could have been intentional) delays. "A surgeon has to have steady hands - mine haven't stopped shaking for two years now."

"... Do you," Shachi braved because it became apparent that no else was going to, "think that they ever would?"

Law thought about it. He thought about an eon ago, when he was lost in all sense of the word; trembling and crying yet not quite crying at all. When the milky blots of skin overtook him and left him helpless in the dirt, pine needles in his hair and bits of pine cone in his shoes.

He remembers Rosinante's kindness, and- a terrible amount of pink. And that was enough for him get back on track. "This isn't anything new," because it was true, as tragic as it was. "I'm sure it will pass when it pleases."

He remembered the feeling that washed over him when he realized he had nothing all over again. When he thought he had already lived through a lifetime of sorrow and the world could be a little kinder to him; stop throwing him for a loop. Between then and now, he remembers very little.

As Shachi nodded, Penguin sipped his soup rather loudly, and Law pretended not to notice the sidelong glance Bepo shot him.

Three different ways of commiserating.

"I was only a proper surgeon for around two years," he said, because he felt like he should. He excluded the later (rather illegal) years that tacked onto the end there. But, "Before that, I was only a nur- no, actually, I didn't do much before that. I wasn't doing anything. I read- and every time I came across Doflamingo in a hall, I never used that hallway again. That was how I passed my time."

He mused not for the first time that he really didn't have many hobbies, ever.

Penguin sadly didn't buy the redirection and nearly choked on his fifth helping. "You were a _what,_ Cap?"

Shachi shrilled, " _Nurse Law-"_

"Did you, like, have to give old people sponge baths? Wait, _where are you going?"_

Law was already shrouded in the shadows the night and trees provided. "I'm taking a walk."

" _You did, didn't you?"_

"But it's _dark_ out there," Shachi seemed to be the only one out of the two to be backtracking - as moderately as he was with humor still tinging his words. "You can't see- oh wait, yeah you can. Alright, careful out there, nursey _-"_

Bepo snorted.

Law _stared_ before, " _Wash these bowls before I come back, Penguin."_

"Wha- why me? I didn't say it!"


End file.
